The Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye has defended his 2014 debate with The Creation Museum's Ken Ham, by stating that it allowed him the platform to tell millions of viewers why the idea that creationism is a possible theory for life on Earth is a "disastrous" thing to teach the young generation.

"In lots of states, kids are taught that evolution is just one possible theory that explains how life came about, and that creationism is another," Nye told VOX in an interview published on Tuesday.

"We need these kids to be part of the future. We need them to innovate and change the world. But if you raise a generation of students who don't believe in the most fundamental idea in biology, it's a formula for disaster. This is against our national interest, and if you raise a generation like this, they're victims," he added. more >>

Atheist author and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has admitted that although in general he doesn't "despise individuals" and only their views, Young-Earth Creationists pass his "limits" on the issue. He also argued that humans are really African apes, and are descendants from ancestors that can be called "monkeys."

"I said I'd never despise individuals, just their views. But there are limits, and YE Creationists who refuse to look at evidence pass mine," Dawkins wrote on Thursday on Twitter.

The God Delusion author has spoken out many times against Creationism, or a literal interpretation of the Genesis story in the Bible. Young Earth Creationists, in particular, believe the Earth is not billions, but only several thousands of years old. more >>

Answers in Genesis CEO and President Ken Ham accused atheist groups of "showing their intolerance for anything — or anyone" Christian, after the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to a high school in Georgia claiming that the school's decision to invite a Creationist speaker to talk to students is "unconstitutional."

"Christians are not second-class citizens barred from participating in society or from speaking in the public sphere. In no way is having a Christian give a lecture on critical thinking a violation of the First Amendment. If FFRF wants to claim that Christians can't speak on critical thinking, then neither can they," Ham argued in a blog post.

Troup County Comprehensive High School in LaGrange invited in late March Eric Hovind, the president of the Florida-based ministry Creation Today, to a debate class. According to Christian News Network, Hovind has said that he did not talk about his faith or creation during the class, but participated in a general discussion on critical thinking. more >>

Answers in Genesis, founded by creationist Ken Ham, has argued in an article against suggestions that Neanderthals were ancient pre-Adamic and therefore soulless humans, asserting that they, too, were made in God's image.

The article, written by AiG's Elizabeth Mitchell, challenges what she says are arguments by Old Earth creationists such as Hugh Ross of Reasons to Believe, that position Neanderthals as "pre-Adamic intelligent but soulless human-like bipedal beings who painted on cave walls and buried their dead."

"Noting that this amounts to a belief that soulless humans, though Ross would not call them human, lived before Adam and Eve, we have often called attention to the inconsistencies of Ross' position with the Word of God," Mitchell wrote. more >>

Creation Museum CEO and President Ken Ham revealed that around 15 million people have seen his 2014 debate with Bill Nye over creationism, but said that secularists do not want to see another such debate take place.

"Around 15 million people have seen the debate since then, and it's still impacting lives and starting conversations," Ham commented in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

He then linked to an interview with WDN from March, in which he was asked about the prospects of "round two" in terms of another debate with Nye, who is the CEO of science-advocacy group The Planetary Society. more >>

Stephen Meyer, Director of the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute, author, and a prominent proponent of intelligent design, discussed what politicians should say when questioned about evolution by an anti-creationist news media at a Faith and Law presentation on Friday, March 13, on Capitol Hill. Meyer observed that the news media considers that there are two acceptable responses from politicians to a question as to whether or not evolution is true.

First, an affirmation of materialism (that matter is all that there is, and so life must have emerged from matter), and compartmentalism (religion has its proper place, but supernaturalism is excluded as a scientific explanation, and so evolution must be postulated as unguided). Meyer observed that Republicans are given a harder time, and are put on the defensive in responding to the question. The issue is complicated by the fact that the word "evolution" has no unequivocal meaning.

It can mean: 1) Change over time, 2) Common descent, and 3) Natural selection. Darwin claimed all three, and "his core idea is that nature can do the work of the Creator." Public school students today are taught all three meanings. Nevertheless, Meyer said that natural selection as the mechanism of evolution is increasingly questioned by evolutionary biologists. more >>